Do you find it bothersome when artist's don't follow your direction?

[Mfinn123]

My theme as you all know is ONE MINUTE LATER -- I usually chat with the artist about what will be happening so we have a good idea together of the result -- I don't dictate much at all unless I'm dealing with the art agent --I tell them the drawing must be the kind of drawing that could have been on the original cover so no nudity, excessive violence, etc. And, a few go way wrong:

1 artist did a straight recreation and forgot it was one minute later

another artist drew the right characters but they were doing nothing at all -- just standing/sitting

another on a multi-character cover drew one character and then simply arms at the end of the page to say the others were flying off

UNGH! But, most of the nine years of my theme, the artists have done just great!

[Alpha_Flight]

Originally Posted by JadeGiant

This one is tough. I agree with the notion that giving an artist max flexibility to be creative (ie less direction) generally leads to better projects. I also really appreciate the themed commission collections out there a lot (BoG, OML, trophy wall, etc.) and even started a series myself for Bob Larkin Hulk homages. The larger body of work you have for a theme, the more likely you are going to get something that fits into what you want as the artist has a good source of reference material.

From the OP, I would love to see the parameters provided to the artist and how the art turned out. Anyone willing to post examples of both the directions provided and the end result art?

Hey Jade, here is what I referenced for the piece last year:



Basically I wanted an Evil Ryu doing a Shoryuken (If that means anything to any non-Street Fighter enthusiasts lol)

Here is what I received:



So basically it's a "pre" Shoryuken pose. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a nice piece. However I wanted the same flame effect and same perspective etc. as the referenced art. I clearly told him all of this and even wrote down a description on the commission list he had. Then he told me he didn't need a reference as he drew it.

Aesthetically he nailed it (As far as colours and faithfulness to the character etc.) but the pose was all wrong. It was disappointing to get so excited, literally be first in line at 5 AM at the Expo to get to his booth and think about the outcome for a couple weeks before the show with mad excitement. Then to receive the piece no where near what you envisioned is a let down. Maybe I am just to picky and should lower my expectations and expect some deviations from what my minds eye sees?

The second piece is spoke of is this one. Don't get me wrong, He 75% followed what I wanted and the layout and composition are flawless IMHO, but there were some small details missing from the characters that should have been included:



Sagat (They character at the top) is missing two scars. Vega (The character in the middle-right) has a tatoo that's drawn over his right sholder, which is upside down (I know you don't see much of it but it still bugs me), and Vega has long claw like nails (He drew his hand with a short nail - again a small detail, still bugs me) and M. Bison (The character in the middle-left) is missing an emblem on the skull piece on his hat. Again, during my initial e-mails I sketched out what I wanted and included it as an attachment with reference art as well as a description. I also said I wanted to have a quick chat before he started the piece and he said he would keep me updated. Then I find the completed piece on Instagram. So no updates for me.

I contacted him and he is addressing the concerns for Sagat and M. Bison, however Vega can not be fixed as it would wreck the piece (I didn't ask him to correct Vega, as it would be a literal botch job on the colouring). Again, all in all I am very happy with the piece Just like getting a statue with a minor flaw. Happy but slightly annoyed. Good thing is he acknowledged that he should have known as he is a lead UDON artist and does a lot of Capcom work and will be correcting the piece ready for pick-up from tomorrow. It was nice of him to be open to a little bit of re-work.

I know it may seem I am nitpicking, and maybe I am. If I was an artist I would certainly find some official reference art and ensure everything is drawn 100%. Just my two.

[JadeGiant]

Originally Posted by Mfinn123

another artist drew the right characters but they were doing nothing at all -- just standing/sitting

another on a multi-character cover drew one character and then simply arms at the end of the page to say the others were flying off

pics?

I love the OML series - always seem to turn out nice

[JadeGiant]

Originally Posted by Alpha_Flight

Hey Jade, here is what I referenced for the piece last year:



Basically I wanted an Evil Ryu doing a Shoryuken (If that means anything to any non-Street Fighter enthusiasts lol)

Here is what I received:



So basically it's a "pre" Shoryuken pose. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a nice piece. However I wanted the same flame effect and same perspective etc. as the referenced art. I clearly told him all of this and even wrote down a description on the commission list he had. Then he told me he didn't need a reference as he drew it.

Aesthetically he nailed it (As far as colours and faithfulness to the character etc.) but the pose was all wrong. It was disappointing to get so excited, literally be first in line at 5 AM at the Expo to get to his booth and think about the outcome for a couple weeks before the show with mad excitement. Then to receive the piece no where near what you envisioned is a let down. Maybe I am just to picky and should lower my expectations and expect some deviations from what my minds eye sees?

The second piece is spoke of is this one. Don't get me wrong, He 75% followed what I wanted and the layout and composition are flawless IMHO, but there were some small details missing from the characters that should have been included:



Sagat (They character at the top) is missing two scars. Vega (The character in the middle-right) has a tatoo that's drawn over his right sholder, which is upside down (I know you don't see much of it but it still bugs me), and Vega has long claw like nails (He drew his hand with a short nail - again a small detail, still bugs me) and M. Bison (The character in the middle-left) is missing an emblem on the skull piece on his hat. Again, during my initial e-mails I sketched out what I wanted and included it as an attachment with reference art as well as a description. I also said I wanted to have a quick chat before he started the piece and he said he would keep me updated. Then I find the completed piece on Instagram. So no updates for me.

I contacted him and he is addressing the concerns for Sagat and M. Bison, however Vega can not be fixed as it would wreck the piece (I didn't ask him to correct Vega, as it would be a literal botch job on the colouring). Again, all in all I am very happy with the piece Just like getting a statue with a minor flaw. Happy but slightly annoyed. Good thing is he acknowledged that he should have known as he is a lead UDON artist and does a lot of Capcom work and will be correcting the piece ready for pick-up from tomorrow. It was nice of him to be open to a little bit of re-work.

I know it may seem I am nitpicking, and maybe I am. If I was an artist I would certainly find some official reference art and ensure everything is drawn 100%. Just my two.

I don't know SF at all so I must admit I am having trouble seeing what you are talking about. I don't see a tattoo and on the first pic I have no clue ...

[Alpha_Flight]

I tried haha.

[Mfinn123]

Originally Posted by JadeGiant

pics?

I love the OML series - always seem to turn out nice

Thanks for the kind words on my theme. Here is One One Minute Later that went way off the rails..and the artist was Craig Hamilton....first, the cover was supposed to be Defenders #1 and you can see the cover and his sketch. Looks like a pretty nice OML in progress.

...and, after a long wait, here is what he ultimately provided....a change of covers and a One Minute Later that is goofy - why is Namor sitting around and what are they doing -- I like his art but the whole commission was a fiasco...

[DamonO]

Experience has taught me that its just a fact that some artists are better at following specific instructions than others. Its why I rarely have artists ink their own work for me. I have a separate inker do it so he can fix any errors during the inking stage -- assuming of course that the errors are fixable.

Val Semeiks is possibly the best artist I've ever worked with for getting details right. Darryl Banks is another.

[Landroid]

http://comicbook.com/2015/04/18/the-...l-or-helpful-/

Thanks for the inspiration!

[rjs1162]

Originally Posted by Mfinn123

Thanks for the kind words on my theme. Here is One One Minute Later that went way off the rails..and the artist was Craig Hamilton....first, the cover was supposed to be Defenders #1 and you can see the cover and his sketch. Looks like a pretty nice OML in progress.

...and, after a long wait, here is what he ultimately provided....a change of covers and a One Minute Later that is goofy - why is Namor sitting around and what are they doing -- I like his art but the whole commission was a fiasco...

I really like the art,but your right,this one got away! Even though there was occasional in-fighting between members,this looks like a Defenders that never would have happened. The first layout would have worked for sure!

[joefixit2]

One artist copied an image exactly from a piece of art of the same character from an image on CAF not knowing that image was also mine.